The zero-emission taxicab of the future will soon be on the streets of London – and Digi is playing a key role in making it happen. That’s because Frazer-Nash, the electric-car pioneer founded in 1922, has selected Digi’s ConnectCore 6 system-on-module to create a complete digital experience for driver instrumentation and touchscreen passenger infotainment inside its range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) Metrocabs. The ConnectCore 6 will also enable wireless connectivity to in-cab Internet, GPS navigation, and revenue-producing interactive displays.

The ConnectCore 6 is less than 2 inches square and includes all the power and connectivity you would expect from a PC, including a cellular adapter, 1080p graphics, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and up to 64GB of flash memory. The decision to utilize ConnectCore 6 was a change for Frazer-Nash, which traditionally develops all technologies in-house. In fact, the ConnectCore 6 is the only component in the Frazer-Nash Metrocab that was not designed and created by the company itself.

In this new Frazer-Nash “cab of the future,” drivers can monitor the cab’s key systems as well as optimize routes, fuel, and battery efficiency. What’s more, Digi offers secure remote management and web services capabilities through the scalable Digi Device Cloud™ so Frazer-Nash can monitor all of its cabs remotely and deploy updates over cellular networks.

Frazer-Nash has been in the forefront of electric powertrain development and designs and builds all of its own components. By using the ConnectCore 6, Frazer-Nash reduced costs and accelerated its time-to-market while offering new services and deliver a connected cab. The Metrocab is just one example of the incredible development opportunities for Digi customers and partners, brining computing power to new classes of innovative applications.

One of the most buzzworthy commercials of Super Bowl XLIX was Bud Light’s Real Life Pac-Man spot for the #UpForWhatever campaign. The advertisement features a life-sized Pac-Man game where a seemingly unaware contender, Riley Smith, is challenged to munch pellets while being chased by ghosts Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde.

Here’s the commercial in case you missed it:

The Twitterverse thought that it was awesome and most people wanted to try the game out for themselves.

“Real life Pac-Man! A million high fives to the first bar to make that a regular thing in their establishment.” –@mattlindner

“Can real life Pac-Man be a thing with permanent game sets around the world?” –@DishNation

So, how real was real life Pac-Man? Is it be a game that you could really try in the future? Bud Light states that Smith’s participation was 100% organic. They say it was a live event, a real person, a real game board, all captured in real time. While we’ll leave Smith’s participation and the authenticity of the event up for debate, we can tell you that the game board itself was absolutely real. Bud Light and partners utilized Internet of Things technology to bridge digital and physical worlds and bring the Pac-Man game we all know and love to life.

Here’s How

Rick Galinson and Legacy Effects of Los Angeles, the same shop that provided Jurassic Park, Iron Man and Terminator effects designed the ghosts for the interactive game board.

Each roller-skating ghost costume is lit with about 4,000 LEDs, animated by a tiny open-source computer, the Parallax Propeller QuickStart Board, that communicates using Digi International’s tiny radio module, an XBee-PRO 802.15.4. The remote operator uses a laptop and another XBee module to send commands for the ghost’s flashing sequences.

“With the pressure of over 100 million viewers and a multi-million dollar campaign resting on these electronics, the Propeller chip from Parallax coupled with an XBEE PRO from Digi was an easy choice,” Galinson, SPFX Designer, said. “They performed flawlessly, are easy to implement and will remain my controller and communication products of choice for years to come.”

The technical details of the project had to be as straightforward as possible given short deadlines. Rob Faludi, Digi International’s Chief Innovator and author of Building Wireless Sensor Networks explains, “XBee radios are popular with artists and industrialists alike. They simplify radio communications between devices and the Internet, so critical projects can meet their deadlines without requiring extensive engineering efforts. There’s certainly no postponing the Super Bowl, so XBees were a great choice to ensure this project came off without a hitch.”

A total of five ghost costumes were produced with one serving as a backup. It took about twelve people to assemble the costumes in time for the commercial. Be sure to get a close look at their eyes, which exhibit the original video game character and move with the roller-skating ghost’s movement. Jon McPhalen’s Spin/ASM WS2812 driver figured prominently as a key source code object for this project.

Here’s a behind the scenes look at the game and event coming together:

“It’s now easier than ever with IoT technology to create mesmerizing digital experiences in the physical world. We’re not only seeing this in entertainment with Bud Light’s Pac-Man game, but also commercially with connected solutions for energy systems, transportation monitoring, medical care and even municipal street lighting, Faludi said. “XBees can be a power-up for almost any connected device project.”

So, to answer a question that may be burning in many fan’s minds: yes, it’s totally possible that you too could be running from Blinky the ghost in real life (IRL). Maybe coming to a bar near you? We’re not sure. But one thing we’re positive about is our digital and physical worlds will continue to come together to create these incredible dream-like experiences; both for fun and entertainment and for solving real-world problems.

Life science is intersecting with the exponential increase in computing power, and as President and Managing Partner of Google Ventures (GV), Bill Maris sees great opportunities for new technology in the field. Today, Maris addressed a crowd of entrepreneurs and change makers at one of Chicago’s greatest startup and technology hubs, 1871.

As we see with our customers’ Internet of Things deployments,every sector, from life sciences to retail and transportation, exponential increases in computing capacity open doors for advances that few see coming.

Maris summed up how technology has grown over the last 20 years: “What is 320,000 times better than it was before? Tech.”

As Maris pointed out, today we all have a device in our hands that connects us to the sum of human knowledge. And, the capacity of computer technology is on an exponential curve. In a world where you’re on an exponential curve, everything changes very quickly.

Pulling a page from Slack Founder Stewart Butterfield, Maris shared two photos to make his point. First, he showed a photo of the crowd at the 2008 presidential inauguration. How were people documenting the experience? With cameras— cameras with film. Fast forward to 2012, and how did people document that event? Digitally, with their phones. Each photo shows thousands of people with cameras and phones respectively. The pictures, side-by-side, paint the radical change that happened in less than four short years.

What does this have to do with technological advances in life sciences?

Everything, because the field of life sciences is currently experiencing this exponential curve, as it somewhat has in the past.

In the 1800s, Bloodletting basins were used to collect blood that was taken from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. When the basin was full, the patient was thought to be treated. In the 1950s medical professionals used the “iron lung,” a negative pressure ventilator. Today, the negative form of pressure ventilation has been entirely replaced by positive pressure ventilation or biphasic cuirass ventilation.Then, in 1957, the first chemical synthesis of penicillin was completed.

Today, exponential curves are steeper than ever. The Human Genome Project is a great example. In 2002, people thought it was impossible to sequence the genome to 100%. Here’s how the evolution looked: 1990: 0%; 2002: 1%; 2003: 100%.

So, what does the world look like in 2034? “Think about those exponential curves, and apply that math. This could mean diagnoses before you know you’re sick. You don’t change the oil in the car only when the car breaks down,” Maris said.

A major theme of Maris’ talk about the future warned that we should also look to make sure that technology is distributed and that its creators and adopters consider access. In our work, we’ve seen companies use technology as a means of creating access— a project by Orange Business Services and Almerys, Cardiauvergne, being a great example.

In today’s world of exponential curves, what’s your business doing to ensure your evolution? How are you using computing power to impact patient and customer outcomes and revenue? We saw Maris’ talk as an invitation to beg the question. We’d love to hear about your innovations in the comments section below.

Bill Maris founded Google Ventures in 2009 and oversees all of the fund’s global activities. GV is one of the most active investors in the world, with approximately $1.6 billion under management, more than 250 portfolio companies and offices in Mountain View, San Francisco, Boston, New York, and London. The fund’s early track record includes investments in pioneers like Uber, Nest, DocuSign, and Cloudera; IPOs like Foundation Medicine and RetailMeNot; and exits to industry leaders like Facebook, Twitter, and Yahoo.

Last week, healthcare and technology innovators from around the United States came together to experience the future of healthcare at the Mill City Innovation & Collaboration Center (ICC), a new space created to showcase technologies, evaluate usability in simulated environments and conduct community and practice-based research. The “Healthcare Anywhere” event focused on how healthcare providers can use information technologies, mobile applications and the Internet of Things to generate patient data for real-time monitoring creating a completely new patient experience and transforming the way patients and their healthcare providers interact. Real world, commercial-ready applications included a wearable, Internet of Things demonstration by AFrame Digital and Digi International.

AFrame and Digi came together to demo of AFrame’s MobileCare™ Monitor system, a wrist watch-like device that wirelessly communicates a user’s motion and location data to a cloud-based monitoring and alert system. The system’s capabilities include emergency call, impact detection, location tracking, along with activity and vitals tracking and trending. The solution uses ZigBee wireless technology, provided by Digi International, to connect to the network, and Device Cloud by Etherios to give providers an easy to use management portal.

The demonstration was installed in a simulated home environment to show attendees that data collection is a non-intrusive process. AFrame Digital and Digi also demonstrated a patient app, intelligent mobile alerts and cloud-based care management tools that help seniors and patients stay safe at home, provide real-time feedback about a person’s health or well-being or give early warning when a person’s health begins to deteriorate.

“The Internet of Things paradigm is really about personalizing experiences,” said AFrame Digital’s Jill Thorpe, vice president for strategic initiatives. “Patient-generated data will influence healthcare the same way web navigation patterns and search criteria personalize consumer experiences on websites. We help healthcare providers leverage patient-generated data to personalize patient-directed content and enhance patient communication with their health care providers. Over time, combining sensor devices and patient-generated with powerful analytics and machine learning will help care providers get ahead of health problems before they become acute, enable more scalable care delivery models, and ultimately lead to better care and outcomes.”

“We believe that technology will reduce unnecessary face-to-face clinic visits, allowing physicians to see more patients and engage with their patients in new ways,” said Richard Tanler, Director of Mill City ICC. “Solutions offered by AFrame and Digi International are part of our hyper-connected world, that now includes apps for managing our health and the health of loved ones.”

“Digi International’s products and services are used by our healthcare customers and OEMs to connect millions of devices in thousands of hospitals. The products and cloud services are being used to bridge the critical gap between healthcare information systems and a broad range of devices,” said Steve Popovich, vice president of global accounts, healthcare at Digi International. “We see new opportunities as healthcare devices become more mobile within traditional patient care facilities, for long term chronic illness monitoring and aging in place applications.”

In addition to live demos, the ICC hosted a roundtable dedicated to the topic. Panelists included representatives from Intel, Oracle, The Boston Consulting Group, and UnitedHealth Group and leaders from all local health systems represented in the audience.

“A visit starts in a different way today and in the future it could be done in a virtual space anytime anywhere at anytime,” Mark Blatt, Intel.

This event is the first of many expected at the ICC, and you can learn more about the center and upcoming events at: MillCityICC.org. The panel discussion will also be available. Stay tuned– we’ll be sharing it in the next two weeks.

Our friend Quin is always up to big things. Most recently, the 13-year-old innovator has decided to kick off his career in education early by hosting technology classes at MIT. We were lucky enough to meet Quin back when he used XBee modules in the infamous “gas cap.” Since then, we’re constantly chatting with Quin about his projects over social media, hanging out and talking shop at Maker Faire events around the country, and now, watching him tell his story on BBC. Go Quin!

“In less than three years, 13-year-old Quin Etnyre learned to program electronics, created his own company, and began teaching MIT graduates in his spare time,” the BBC article, which accompanies the video below, reads.

One of the best aspects of playing a role in the technology industry is getting to meet the innovative leaders who are making things happen. That’s why we bring you this monthly series: Internet of Things Experts. These are the people that inspire and motivate us everyday, and we hope they’ll do the same for you. Today, we bring you Joshua Broder, President of Tilson.

Josh Broder is the President of Tilson where he is responsible for strategy, leadership and business development. Prior to joining Tilson, Josh served as an Army communications officer, managing the network operations center that controlled the government communications network in Central Asia in 2005/6. He also serves on the Boards of Directors of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute and HealthInfoNet. Under his leadership, Tilson was awarded the 2010 Governor’s Award as Technology Company of the Year and selected as #901 of America’s fastest growing companies in 2012 by Inc. Magazine.

We were excited to explore Josh’s thoughts on the current and future state of the Internet of Things and how he’s become a key player in the industry.

The Internet of Things, specifically the industrial internet of things, is starting to get more attention from the media, businesses and the public. As awareness increases, the question about how connected objects can improve industries does too. We asked Josh about his thoughts on what is being called the next revolution in so called “machine to machine” communications. Josh describes the valuable impact as world-changing, “Allowing machines to talk to each other without human involvement will make things more efficient. In fact, it will define the rise of productivity in the postindustrial era. It’s the next big value we’ll get from the Internet.”

This value is vast and will touch many industries, but Josh pointed out three areas that he is most excited about. He sees these as the “fast movers.” These fast moving sectors are: smart grid, intelligent transportation and consumer facing mobile applications.

Why these sectors?

Smart Grid
Because, the safe and reliable delivery of power touches every consumer. “Power is a huge expense and has a large environmental impact, but is a critical enabler of virtually everything we do. Since we manage well what we measure well, getting better data about how consumers and grids behave is critical to getting the most from our grid. What makes grids smart is a telecom network that allows utilities and consumers to both have knowledge of how the grid is behaving, and take actions to control it.” Josh explains that Smart grid technologies provide an opportunity to increase the efficiency of grid operations, reduce costs to rate payers and have a positive carbon impact. “Smart grid technologies are stretching what utilities and consumers can do with our current investment in generation, transmission, distribution, and mechanical control infrastructure. The rapid commoditization in machine to machine network technology enables us to deploy more sophisticated grid control systems at a cost with a near term return in investment for consumers.”

Intelligent Transportation
Josh points out that transportation is another sector that affects each one of us. Increasingly, traditional transportation is being transformed by networked information systems, improving safety, decreasing operating costs, and boosting efficiency. “We all utilize roads, trains and air travel, and our economic and environmental fortunes are closely tied to transportation efficiency. Our clients are increasingly calling for remote weather data collection, configurable signage, real time video and tolling automation. This requires significant network infrastructure, which, as prices fall and commercial networks grow, is increasing available to implement good public infrastructure policy.”

Consumer Facing Mobile Applications
Consumer facing mobile applications are not new, but Josh and his team are seeing an increasing demand from smart phone users for wireless coverage and capacity in all of the nooks and crannies that we spend our days in– stadiums, shopping malls, hospitals and campuses so that they can use the increasingly rich world of mobile applications. “We are seeing an increase in cellular build outs of distributed antenna and small cell systems that provide coverage and data capacity down in those nooks and crannies where people gather and travel through.”

In addition to overseeing these deployments and running Tilson, Josh is the youngest ever recipient of the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce’s President’s Award. He was recognized on MaineToday Media’s inaugural Forty Under 40 list, which recognizes forty up and coming leaders, and was named to MaineBiz 2011 Next List.

With such incredible accolades, we had to ask Josh how he got to where he is today. His answer? “I was a liberal arts guy that encountered technology through a stint in Army during a time of unprecedented network deployment. After coming home from several years overseas, an entrepreneur took me under his wing during Tilson’s formative years.”

Having a knack for turning the complex into the simple, Josh gives incredible, tangible advice to those looking to get involved in the field of the Internet of Things, and in business in general. “Find problems that need solved. Solving problems for consumers can be incredibly rewarding if you get it right, but it’s also extremely competitive. Business have problems that individuals can and should solve.”

The Internet of Things is developing and buzzing all around us. Throughout the week we come across innovative projects, brilliant articles and posts that support and feature the innovators and companies that make our business possible. Here’s our list of favorites from this week’s journey on the Web.

Do you have a link to share? Please tell us in the comments below or Tweet us, @XBeeWireless — we would love to share your findings too. You can also follow all of the commentary and discussion with the hashtag #FridayFavorites.

We’ll be talking wireless technology, M2M solutions and device cloud connectivity at the seventh annual WaveForum this November in Miami, Florida. WaveForum brings together industry experts from around the world to share knowledge and experience. The three-day event will feature over 25 different sessions covering a variety of topics including: